Washington — President Trump is expected to attend take two of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday night after April’s dinner was upended when an armed assailant rushed through a security checkpoint and the U.S. Secret Service opened fire on the gunman.
Three months after the suspect was stopped outside the Washington Hilton’s ballroom, Mr. Trump is speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s do-over of the dinner at a different Washington hotel. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president “looks forward to finishing what he started before a despicable assassination attempt derailed the original event back in April,” and promised the evening will be “very entertaining and memorable.”
Secret Service officials have warned that nationwide threats have reached an unprecedented level, with agents opening roughly 10,000 protective intelligence cases since January — a nearly 40% increase from the same period last year. The Secret Service has been preparing for the makeup dinner, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran told reporters in a briefing Wednesday that every venue is reevaluated before every presidential visit.
“We will always evaluate every site, and right now we have an advance team there, and they will take back, and they will set up a plan to set that site up for success, just like we did at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Hilton,” Curran said. “That is a success.”
On Friday night, the White House Correspondents’ Association will present an award for exceptional service to the Secret Service officer who was struck in his protective vest at the April dinner, along with the entire Washington Hilton staff.
“I do think their bravery should be recognized, and I’m really looking forward to giving out those two awards,” said Weijia Jiang, the association’s most recent past president and CBS News’ senior White House correspondent. Jiang said Friday night’s program is “very much the same” as April’s, although the size will be smaller.
“There are enhanced security measures,” Jiang told C-SPAN. “We have a private security firm that has worked closely with Secret Service. There are new measures that every single dinner guest has to take.”
Attendees will have to present a unique QR code with a government-issued photo ID to get through ticketing, and go through layers of security to enter the ballroom, she said. The association worked extensively with the Secret Service.
“It was incredibly important to have the safety of our guests to be the top priority,” she said.
